Mistakes spoil otherwise strong effort in loss to Canucks

VANCOUVER - For all the good they exhibited for 60 minutes inside Rogers Arena on Friday night, the Buffalo Sabres were able to point to a few key moments as the determining factors in a 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
The simple, resilient identity that earned the Sabres an overtime win in Calgary on Wednesday was present throughout the night and showed in their 39-23 shot advantage. But like their loss in Edmonton on Monday, the few mistakes they did make proved costly.
"That's kind of the way it's gone the last week, week and a half," alternate captain Kyle Okposo said. "We have to do a better job limiting our mistakes. I thought we played a really good game tonight and the mistakes cost us. You've got to do your job away from the puck."

The Canucks scored three goals on their first eight shots of the game, the last of which didn't come until the 8:00 mark of the second period. The Sabres were outshooting the Canucks 7-0 when Evan Rodrigues opened the scoring with 11:12 remaining in the first.
The Canucks were held without a shot until 10:36 remained in the first period. They tied the game on their third shot, which came from Alexander Edler at the point with 7:48 remaining, and took the lead when Derrick Pouliot weaved through the Sabres' defense and fed a wide-open Sven Baertschi with 4:29 remaining.
The Sabres erased a pair of one-goal deficits thanks to goals from Kyle Okposo and Sam Reinhart, but the Canucks took of advantage of miscues to regain the lead on both occasions. Bo Horvat picked off a pass in the Buffalo zone to set up a Brock Boeser goal in the second period, while Josh Leivo fed an unchecked Loui Eriksson for the winning goal with 14:03 left in the third.

Linus Ullmark, who made his second straight start in net for the Sabres, had little chance to stop any of the four goals he allowed.
"When we don't have the puck it's so important as we move forward here, because every little play matters," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "It's unfortunate because we played a heck of a game and we're not coming out of here with any points."
The Sabres pushed to erase a third deficit, but rookie goalie Thatcher Demko came up big for the Canucks in his season debut. Demko made a pad stop to rob Jeff Skinner on a point-blank chance and later took a Rasmus Dahlin one-timer off his mask.
"I think we focused on not getting down on ourselves and sticking to our game plan," Rodrigues said. "I thought we did that. Like I said, they capitalized on the chances that they got, and we do need to tighten up defensively and not let them have those grade-As. Credit to their goalie, he played well."
The Sabres now have nine days off for their bye week and the All-Star break. Players who spoke after the game stressed the importance of using that time to mentally prepare for a playoff push over the last 33 games.
"This break is something that you have to use positively," Okposo said. "I think that the last week and a half, we made some mistakes, we didn't have the results we wanted. When we come back, we're going to have to push. There's no bones about it, we're outside of a playoff spot right now.
"You talk a lot about the process and the way we have to play. I think our identity's forged now. Now we've got to get results. Now we've got to make sure we're limiting those mistakes away from the puck and it's time for everybody to take a step. We've got to take a step as a team."

E-Rod stays hot

Rodrigues made the most of the Western Canada trip, finding the back of the net in all three contests for the first three-game goal streak of his career. He finished the game Friday with a game-high six shots in 11:41.

The forward said he doesn't plan on cooling off during the break.
"I'll get my rest and keep on going, just continue to do what I've been doing this year," he said. "The chances are coming and it's nice to finally have them go in for me and start to get rewarded. My confidence has been there the whole year and I'm going to continue to play confident. Hopefully, they'll continue to go in after the break."

Up next

The Sabres will return to practice on Monday, Jan. 28 and then play the first of back-to-back road games in Columbus the following night.
The team returns to KeyBank Center to kick off a seven-game homestand against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, Feb. 1.